Welcome,

I'm Kathy Sullivan, Director of the Battelle Center. My job titles have been scientist, astronaut and educator, but I'm an explorer at heart. The passion I bring to our work comes from the uncommon conversion I underwent during my freshman year of college: from language major to oceanographer. I was able to make this change because of parents and teachers who made learning an active, fun adventure that I loved and felt confident about.

For far too many kids, schooling is a "go through the motions" world that only dulls their native curiosity about the world around them. All too often, science is little more than vocabulary words and isolated facts you have to remember, and recipes or techniques you have to prove you can follow.

I'm a longtime fan of science museums, where creativity and inquiry pervade teaching and learning. Museum and community programs can do a lot to help spark and sustain the creativity and joy around learning that I'm speaking about - for some. But we must find ways to change the schooling experience more fundamentally and systemically, so that all of our kids have a much better shot at the kind of learning and skill-building they'll need to succeed in the world that awaits them.

This is the challenge that drove the founding of the Battelle Center, and the one that drives our work every single day. Please take a look around our website and contact us if you too are ready to be part of the STEM change.

Cheers,